You Jump First

You Jump First

Mt Evans (14,265 vertical feet- – a 14er) in Idaho Springs, Colorado can be a gold mine of mountain goat activity. Mt Evans auto road (operated by the National Forest Service, and Colorado Dept of Transportation) opens around Memorial Day, if the snow levels are low enough for the road to be cleared to the peak (June 8, this year, 2017). This is just in time for the mountain goat babies (kids).

The mountain goat females (nannies) give birth in May and present their newborn kids in early to mid June. They can be cute and cuddly (do not cuddle – they are wild animals). In all my years of driving to the top of Mt Evans for mountain goat photography, I have never seen so many kid goats at one time in one place. I counted eight baby goats. A rare sighting.

Eight is Enough

The kids are adorable and such fun to watch and photograph. They love to run and jump in the rocks and boulders on Mt. Evans.

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One baby was separated from the group. When it realized how far it had wandered, it galloped back to the herd (aka a Band). I was standing in its path as it ran towards the camera, right past me. My lucky shot:

Galloping Goat

They seem to love to challenge each other. Five kids are on the verge of jumping from this rock, if only one of them would jump first

You Jump First

I am happy to report that the above image was featured on the front cover of our local Summit Daily Newspaper.

Cover Summit Daily Newspaper

Mt Evans is one of the 58 named fourteeners in Colorado (14,000 feet in elevation or greater). The views are spectacular as can be seen from this 4K video of a young goat jumping from a rock. This goat is too busy watching the tourists to enjoy the view.